Alien Days Anthology: Released

I‘m pleased to announce that the Alien Days Anthology: (The Days Series Book 2) has released. Yet another book that ol’ J.R. Handley and I managed to weasel our ways into.

What’s it about? Aliens, my dudes and dudettes. Aliens. Seriously, though, the official blurb is this:

Alien Days is a multi-author anthology with thrilling tales of aliens, invasions, artificial intelligence, friendship, deceit and extinction. A combination which makes this collection a must-read for science fiction short story fans.

-Castrum Press

With some heavyweight authors weighing in, and the book listed at 435 pages, there’s a lot of bang to be had for you buck. And if you live that Kindle Unlimited life, you’ve got it made in the shade.

As for our story, here’s the elevator pitch.

Image linked to Amazon.

Girl is “raised” by dad. Dad is war hero. Dad wanted a boy. Girl joins military, becomes a woman. Woman is first female through advanced training. Woman is banished to a remote base. Woman feels forgotten, unwanted, rejected. Woman drinks. A vice inherited from dad. Woman finds alien artifact and is zipped into the unknown. Woman is given great power and responsibility. Her decisions will impact the fate of our little blue planet, and much, much more.

The girl/woman is Alexis Monroe, the short story is Am I Alone?. It’s the first short story released that teases J.R. and my upcoming universe and series — The Odera Chronicles (#oderarising). More on that later. For now, please, check out the anthology! Leave a review. Feed an author.

A big thank-you to Castrum Press for giving our story a platform! I’m very honored and humbled to be a part of this book.

Thanks for stopping by the page today, and thanks for reading. I hope you all have a fantastic day that is jam-packed with space pirates, wizards, romance, and whatever else tickles your fancy.

Alien Days Anthology — Releasing May 17th

It’s been a long, long while since I’ve had a chance to update this website. My son, Thor, is now three. I’ve had to move our family across the country, without the benefit of my wonderful, deployed wife. I’ve also managed to get another story accepted for publication.

I‘ll be focusing on that upcoming book, Alien Days, today. I will admit that this bit of interweb has been neglected by me — that’s going to change. Look forward to more updates. This website has always been an outstanding tool for my personal and professional growth — not to mention the host of amazing people I’ve met via this site.

Rest assured, I’m never going to be the author that bludgeons you about the face and neck with buy-my-books adverts on this page — or really anywhere else. I’ll toss a post in, here and there, as the timetable requires.

The Alien Days anthology was one of those opportunities that fell into my lap via a connection with an author I knew — J.R. Handley. Together, we’ve worked on many projects in the past — you can check those out by clicking/touching here.

J.R. had mentioned Castrum Press was looking for submissions. J.R. and I collaborate often, and we have a folder of overflow stories we’d puzzled together in the past. Some individual stories, some planned pieces for bigger things. We picked one, J.R. submitted, and here we are — feeling good.

The book is set to release on May 17th. To be honest, I know very little about the contents of the book. I do know there are some really outstanding and prolific authors listed. It’s humbling to be among them. It’s weird to be published in a book with authors who I’ve read and idolized professionally.

Our story is titled: Am I Alone? It’s the tale of Alexis Monroe. One of the first women through an elite military school, she now stands mind-numbing guard duty on a secretive U.S. Air Force base. Every day, Alexis guards an entrance to a massive warehouse. Every day, she grows more and more despondent. A drink (or three) from her flask, while standing guard duty. A risky decision. An awakened alien artifact. All these come together to alter the course of her life.

Alexis Monroe is an important character in a sprawling universe. J.R. and I have very, very big plans for her. The Odera Chronicles (as we are calling them) are coming, and we are chomping at the bit to get those books into your hands. For now, I hope you pick up Alien Days on May 17th, and I really hope you enjoy our story.

For a Few Credits More: Released

It’s been a great week in my camp; my wife finished a prolonged underway on her ship (sort of), and my first published book is out! Well, to be fair, it’s not just my book. It’s an anthology with a number of best selling science fiction authors featured. I’d talked about this book, For a Few Credits More, a while back. If you missed that post, you can read about it right here.

The book is based in the best-selling Four Horsemen Universe (4HU). What’s great about the anthology (outside of being able to write in it), is that it gives new readers a chance to test the waters. There’s a bunch of books published in the series, which I highly recommend. I have a feeling after you give the anthology a read, you’ll be building a mech-suit in your garage and taking it to some dastardly aliens.

My story, which I co-authored with J.R. Handley, is titled Luck of the Draw. The story follows a man who is trying his best to disappear, but just can’t shake his bad habits. This leads to him being forced into a high-level contract, dealing with his ghosts, and doing his best to stay alive.

The anthology is already getting some great reviews, and I was tickled to see one of the reviewers mentioned Luck of the Draw specifically. So thrilled was I, that I took a screenshot and placed it below.

Thanks, Ken (if you’re reading this, then shoot me an email, so I can thank you via the interwebs). Please, give the book a read and leave an honest review. You can snag it by clicking/touching this link, or clicking/touching the image of the book at the top. Now, I have some other books that need to be written; no rest for the wicked. Thanks for reading!

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For a Few Credits More: 4HU Anthology

My good friend J.R. Handley and I strong-armed our way into writing for an anthology. We stole some pets, torched a lawn, pooped in some mailboxes — but hey — that’s all part of the author hustle. Some people write query letters; some people resort to criminal mischief.

Moving along! I’m pleased to say our first jointly-written story is coming in September, and it takes place in the Four Horsemen universe (4HU). The anthology our offering will be showcased in is titled For a Few Credits More.

For the uninitiated: the 4HU is a bodacious military science fiction series that was spawned into existence by Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy. Instead of trying to write a hack description of the 4HU, I’m stealing the the publisher’s blurb (Seventh Seal Press). We can add this theft to our list of offenses.

It’s the Twenty-Second Century. The galaxy has opened up to humanity as a hyperactive beehive of stargates and new technologies, and we suddenly find ourselves in a vast playground of different races, environments, and cultures. There’s just one catch: we are pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.

Enter the Four Horsemen universe, where only a willingness to fight and die for money separates Humans from the majority of the other races. Enter a galaxy not only of mercenaries, but also of Peacemakers, bounty hunters, and even a strung-out junkie in the way of a hired assassin.

I’m very excited to be contributing to such a kick-ass series. Here’s the 4HU books so far, and a couple that are projected to release later this year.

• Cartwright’s Cavaliers
• Asbaran Solutions
• Winged Hussars
• A Fistful of Credits
• The Golden Horde (ETA: Aug 4, 2017)
• For a Few Credits More (ETA: Sep 15, 2017)

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